Ph.D. degree requirements & procedures

Students are expected to register for at least 10 credits applicable toward their degree in each quarter during the nine-month academic year. A minimum of 90 credits must be completed for the Ph.D. degree (a master's degree from the UW or another institution may be used as a substitute for 30 credits of enrollment). A minimum of 60 credits must be completed at the University of Washington. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 must be maintained.

1. Preparation

2. Take the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam

The Qualifying Exam is offered once per year, in winter quarter. Students planning on taking the Qualifying Exam must register with the ISE Advising Office in mid-November. The Qualifying Exam is administered as a take-home test over one week, followed by an oral presentation. The Qualifying Exam must be taken no later than the second time it is offered while in residence. A Ph.D. student is allowed to take the qualifying exam at most twice.

3. Establish a Supervisory Committee

Establish a Ph.D. Supervisory Committee Chair or co-Chairs before the end of Spring quarter after passing the Qualifying Exam. The Chair must be a tenured/tenure-track or Adjunct faculty in ISE. If there are co-Chairs, then one must be tenured/tenure-track or Adjunct faculty in ISE. A co-Chair must have, at a minimum, an ISE Affiliate appointment at the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor.

It is suggested that the Doctoral Supervisory Committee be established at least four months prior to the intended date of the General Examination. It must consist of a minimum of four members, including the Graduate School Representative (GSR). A minimum of two members (including the Chair/co-Chairs) must be tenured/tenure-track or Adjunct faculty in Industrial & Systems Engineering. The Chair (or a co-Chair) must be a member of the Graduate Faculty with an endorsement to chair doctoral committees. The GSR must be a member of the Graduate Faculty with an endorsement to chair doctoral committees. At least three committee members must be Graduate Faculty with an endorsement to chair doctoral committees. To form your Supervisory Committee, submit the Request to Establish a Ph.D. Supervisory Committee form, with all required signatures, to the ISE Advising Office.

4. Successfully complete the Ph.D. General Examination

Prior to scheduling the General Examination, you must complete 60 credits, with at least 18 credit hours of 500-level courses. A master's degree from the UW or another institution may be used as a substitute for 30 of these 60 credits. When you are ready to schedule the General Examination you must contact the ISE Advising office at least three weeks in advance for appropriate forms and instructions. Industrial & Systems Engineering requires a written proposal of the dissertation research (given to the Committee members 2 weeks in advance), followed by an oral examination. Students are strongly encouraged to leave at least two weeks between their date of examination and the last day of the quarter. Candidacy is awarded upon completion. Registration and completion of credits as a graduate student is required the quarter the exam is taken and candidacy is conferred.

5. Complete necessary dissertation credits

The candidate must register and complete a minimum of 27 credits of dissertation (IND E 800) over a period of at least three quarters. Students are not allowed to register for IND E 800 credits prior to the quarter in which they take the general exam. At least 2 quarters must come after the student passes the General Examination. Students are limited to a maximum of 10 credits per quarter of dissertation.

6. Establish the Ph.D. Reading Committee

To meet basic Graduate School requirements, a doctoral Reading Committee must consist of a Chair and two additional members, all being voting members from the student's Supervisory Committee. The committee must be established before a "Request for Final Examination" is submitted to the Graduate School. To establish the Reading Committee, inform the ISE Advising Office which committee members have agreed to serve. The ISE Advising Office will then send a memo to the Graduate School to officially establish the Reading Committee.

7. Successfully complete the Ph.D. Final Examination

The Ph.D. Final Examination serves as the defense of the students dissertation. To schedule the Final Examination, you must contact the ISE Advising office at least three weeks in advance for appropriate forms and instructions. Ensure that the entire Committee has received and had an opportunity to read a draft of your dissertation before approaching the advising office. Students are strongly encouraged to leave at least two weeks between their date of examination and the last day of the quarter. Full or part-time registration is required the quarter the Final Examination is taken and the degree is awarded.

8. Submit the signed Final Examination warrant and dissertation to the Graduate School

If the Final Examination is satisfactory, the Supervisory Committee members who participate in the examination sign a warrant, which is promptly provided to the ISE Advising Office by the Chair of the Supervisory Committee. After the student has incorporated all of the committee's comments into the dissertation, the student is required to obtain signatures from the reading committee on a reading committee approval form. Note that this form is different from the aforementioned warrant. A final copy of the dissertation should be provided to the reading committee when obtaining signatures on this form. The student should electronically submit this signed reading committee form along with the final dissertation to the Graduate School. The student has 60 days after the Final Examination to electronically submit the final approved dissertation and the signed reading committee form to the Graduate School. Registration as a graduate student is required the quarter the Final Examination is taken AND the quarter the dissertation is submitted and the degree is conferred, even if the 60-day time period has not yet expired. See the complete PhD graduation checklist and instructions.